Imprint?
by Duck Life
Summary: Collin, Brady, Embry, & Seth form a pact in which they decide to never imprint. But what happens when they do? How will they conceal their secrets? Though they set out to simply agree not to imprint, they begin to come closer as brothers. Please R&R!
1. Seth

"Embry said he wanted to talk to you and me and Brady," said Collin as we stood on the beach. I assumed that when he said "talk", he meant "think", and it immediately annoyed me. We couldn't just meet up somewhere? We had to phase in order to have a conversation? I sighed and turned to the younger werewolf.

"Why?" I asked exasperatedly.

"I think he said he wanted to form a pact between the members of the pack that haven't imprinted," answered Collin, turning towards the woods. I frowned.

"Why isn't my sister invited?" I asked edgily. Collin turned, eyeing my rigid stance warily. He shrugged.

"Guys only, I guess," he replied, taking off into the woods and slipping off his shorts. I groaned, but then ran after him, undressed, and phased easily. Unlike my brothers, I enjoyed the short transformation in which we changed into wolves. I liked the tickling sensation as fur sprouted out of my skin, and the strange elongation of my nose, which felt like yawning. I liked to watch my nails grow into claws, and how my arms thickened and extended as I bent over and balanced on them.

Too soon, the metamorphosis stopped, and I was in my wolf form. I began to run, my huge paws pounding into the earth, my head down, turning nimbly to avoid trees.

_Embry?_ I asked, trying to sound annoyed through the tenor of my thoughts. He got it.

_Seth, you didn't have to join if you didn't want to_, thought Embry, sounding hurt.

_What?_ I demanded. _Collin just said to meet you here! He didn't exactly clarify other options. _I felt him cringe.

_Sorry, Seth. Maybe if Embry had been a little more specific I would have known better._ Collin's mental voice was layered with frustration, and I knew that he was mad at Embry.

_Well excuse me for not covering every tiny insignificant detail!_ thundered Embry, and I could feel him tense.

_Guys_, chastised Brady, who we had not known had phased, _stop fighting. _Embry and Collin relaxed. Finally, I reached the clearing where the other wolves were convened. I was the last one there.

_Seriously, Embry, what's up? _I asked, irritated. He bristled, but then relaxed and calmed down.

_Well, I was thinking, since we're the only four that haven't imprinted-_, he began, but I cut him off.

_Leah hasn't imprinted_, I reminded him.

_The only four guys that haven't imprinted, we should form some sort of…inner pack._ He seemed hesitant, as if he were afraid that we were going to attack him.

_That isn't such a bad idea_, thought Brady, sitting down. We all followed. Embry seemed heartened by Brady's remark.

_We could promise that we would never imprint on anyone_, declared Embry.

_But what if we do?_ wondered Collin.

_I think that, if we concentrate hard enough, we won't imprint_, answered Embry. I wasn't so sure, but I agreed, and, after a while, the other two did, too. We all phased and went home, and something strangely ominous tugged at the corner of my mind as I crossed my yard.


	2. Collin

I pounded up my porch stairs and swung open the front door of my house. Kicking off my shoes, I ran down the hall. "Where have you been?" asked my mom. I sighed, knowing this was coming.

"Beach," I lied casually. My mom groaned. She hated my constant "visits to the beach", but what else was I supposed to tell her? "Yeah, Mom, I was just transforming into a huge beast and hanging out with my other wolf friends." Please. I just hate hiding things from her.

"Dinner's almost ready. Could you set the table?" she asked tiredly. I hurried to the silverware drawer, quickly pulling out utensils for my dad, mom, and me. I arranged them carefully on the table. It was the least I could do, these simple household chores. It was my way of apologizing to her for keeping secrets.

I wished I could tell her the truth. It was too hard to hide everything, especially when it got hard. Last spring, I'd come home from the biggest fight of my life, tired and disturbed by what I had seen. I'd killed those monsters, and I'd seen them attacking Jacob, and hungering for human flesh. It freaked me out, and I wasn't ashamed to admit that I had been scared. But then, when I came home, I'd had to duck my head and listen to her yell at me for sneaking out overnight. I had nodded expressionlessly, took her punishments without argument, but then continued to sneak out.

And then, last fall, when we'd come face to face with the Volturi, I couldn't even say anything to my parents. I'd gone there _knowing _I would die, and I hadn't even been able to give my mom a proper goodbye. Maybe it would have been easier if I'd told her everything, and then, unexpectedly, come back alive. Now I would just have to wait for the next fight: with the Volturi, or a vampire army, who knew? I did know, however, that I could be certain of another fight, sometime.


End file.
